Michael Ponater

Future Development of Contrail Cover, Optical Depth, and Radiative Forcing: Impacts of Increasing Air Traffic and Climate Change

Abstract The future development of contrails is investigated considering changes in air traffic and aircraft technology as well as climate change by means of a contrail parameterization developed for the ECHAM general circulation model. Time slice simulations show an increase in global annual mean contrail cover from 0.06% in 1992, to 0.14% in 2015, and to 0.22% in 2050. In the northern extratropics, the enhancement of contrail cover is mainly determined by the growth of aviation. In the Tropics, contrail cover is, additionally, highly affected by climate change. In order to quantify the effect of systematic errors in the model climate on contrail cover, offline diagnostic studies are also performed. These studies suggest an underestimation of global contrail cover in the ECHAM simulations by a factor of about 0.8–0.9. The effect of the bias in the model climate is strongest in tropical latitudes. The temporal development of the simulated contrail radiative forcing is most closely related to total contrai...

Is the climate sensitivity to ozone perturbations enhanced by stratospheric water vapor feedback

The climate response to a set of idealized ozone perturbations is investigated by integrations with a coupled atmosphere-ocean model. Although all perturbations, including a homogeneous CO2 increase, induce the same stratosphere adjusted, tropopause radiative forcing, the climate response is quite variable within the set of experiments. Except for an upper tropospheric ozone increase, our model is more sensitive to ozone perturbations than to an equivalent CO2 perturbation. This applies in particular to a lower stratospheric ozone increase. The accompanying changes in the stratospheric water vapor (SWV) distribution are found to impose additional forcings on climate that may well exceed the forcings due to the original perturbations. Without SWV feedback on radiation the climate sensitivity to a lower stratospheric ozone increase draws remarkably near the respective value for equivalent CO2. This emphasizes the crucial role SWV may have in the forcing-response relationship.

Solar cycle effect delays onset of ozone recovery

Short- and long-term changes of total ozone are investigated by means of an ensemble simulation with the coupled chemistry-climate model E39/C for the period 1960 to 2020. Past total ozone changes are well simulated on both, long (decadal) and short (monthly) timescales. Even the 2002 Antarctic ozone anomaly appears in the ensemble. The model results indicate that the 11-year solar cycle will delay the onset of a sustained ozone recovery. The lowest global mean total ozone values occur between 2005 and 2010, although stratospheric chlorine loading is assumed to decline after 2000. E39/C results exhibit a significant increase of total ozone after the beginning of the next decade, following the upcoming solar minimum. The observed ozone increase in the second half of the 1990s is reproduced by E39/C and is identified as a combined post- Pinatubo and solar cycle effect rather than the beginning of a sustainable ozone recovery.

Intercomparison of radiative forcing calculations of stratospheric water vapour and contrails

Seven groups have participated in an intercomparison study of calculations of radiative forcing (RF) due to stratospheric water vapour (SWV) and contrails. A combination of detailed radiative transfer schemes and codes for global-scale calculations have been used, as well as a combination of idealized simulations and more realistic global-scale changes in stratospheric water vapour and contrails. Detailed line-by-line codes agree within about 15 % for longwave (LW) and shortwave (SW) RF, except in one case where the difference is 30 %. Since the LW and SW RF due to contrails and SWV changes are of opposite sign, the differences between the models seen in the individual LW and SW components can be either compensated or strengthened in the net RF, and thus in relative terms uncertainties are much larger for the net RF. Some of the models used for global-scale simulations of changes in SWV and contrails differ substantially in RF from the more detailed radiative transfer schemes. For the global-scale calculations we use a method of weighting the results to calculate a best estimate based on their performance compared to the more detailed radiative transfer schemes in the idealized simulations.

Importance of representing optical depth variability for estimates of global line-shaped contrail radiative forcing

Estimates of the global radiative forcing by line-shaped contrails differ mainly due to the large uncertainty in contrail optical depth. Most contrails are optically thin so that their radiative forcing is roughly proportional to their optical depth and increases with contrail coverage. In recent assessments, the best estimate of mean contrail radiative forcing was significantly reduced, because global climate model simulations pointed at lower optical depth values than earlier studies. We revise these estimates by comparing the probability distribution of contrail optical depth diagnosed with a climate model with the distribution derived from a microphysical, cloud-scale model constrained by satellite observations over the United States. By assuming that the optical depth distribution from the cloud model is more realistic than that from the climate model, and by taking the difference between the observed and simulated optical depth over the United States as globally representative, we quantify uncertainties in the climate model’s diagnostic contrail parameterization. Revising the climate model results accordingly increases the global mean radiative forcing estimate for line-shaped contrails by a factor of 3.3, from 3.5 mW/m2 to 11.6 mW/m2 for the year 1992. Furthermore, the satellite observations and the cloud model point at higher global mean optical depth of detectable contrails than often assumed in radiative transfer (off-line) studies. Therefore, we correct estimates of contrail radiative forcing from off-line studies as well. We suggest that the global net radiative forcing of line-shaped persistent contrails is in the range 8–20 mW/m2 for the air traffic in the year 2000.

Interactive ozone induces a negative feedback in CO2-driven climate change simulations

Interactively coupled climate chemistry models (CCMs) extend the number of feedback mechanisms in climate change simulations by including chemical feedback. In this study the radiative feedback from ozone changes on climate response and climate sensitivity is quantified for a series of simulations driven by CO2 increases on top of a present-day reference concentration level. Other possibly relevant feedback via atmospheric chemistry, e.g., via CH4 and N2O, is not fully quantified in the CCM setup as their concentrations are essentially fixed at the surface. In case of a CO2-doubling simulation, the ozone feedback reduces the climate sensitivity parameter by 3.4%, from 0.70 K/(W m−2) without interactive chemistry to 0.68 K/(W m−2). In case of a 4*CO2 simulation, the reduction of the climate sensitivity parameter increases to 8.4%. An analysis of feedback reveals that the negative feedback of stratospheric ozone and the associated negative feedback change in stratospheric water vapor are mainly responsible for this damping. The feedback from tropospheric ozone changes is positive but much smaller. The nonlinearity in the climate sensitivity damping with increased CO2 concentrations is shown to be due to nonlinear feedback of ozone and stratospheric water vapor.

Testing broadband radiation schemes for their ability to calculate the radiative forcing and temperature response to stratospheric water vapour and ozone changes

The radiative forcing and fixed dynamical heating temperature response is calculated for observed changes (1979-1997) in carbon dioxide, stratospheric ozone and stratospheric water vapour, using several radiation schemes. It is found that certain broadband schemes substantially underestimate the radiative forcing and absorption by stratospheric water vapour by up to 50%, for the instantaneous forcing, and 15% for the adjusted radiative forcing. This error in the water vapour absorption leads to a 30% smaller stratospheric temperature response and also causes an underestimate of the adjusted stratospheric ozone radiative forcing of up to 50%. It was found that this error could be corrected by splitting the wavelength band which accounts for strong water vapour absorption into two separate bands. This work illustrates the need to carefully test each new forcing introduced into a broadband scheme, as its designer may not have catered for such eventualities.

Aviation-induced radiative forcing and surface temperature change in dependency of the emission altitude

[1] The present study provides a detailed assessment of the net impact of global flight altitude changes on radiative forcing and temperature response. Changes in contrail coverage, chemical perturbations (H2O, O3 ,C H4) and associated radiative forcings were determined from simulations with a quasi CTM. Future development of global mean radiative forcing and temperature response was calculated by means of a linear response model. The range of possible effects arising from various future scenarios is analyzed, and tradeoffs between partially counteracting short- and long term effects are studied. Present-day global mean radiative forcing of short-lived species and CH4 is reduced when flying lower, whereas that of CO2 increases. The opposite effect is found for higher flight altitudes. For increasing and sustained emissions, the climate impact changes are dominated by the effect of short-lived species, yielding a reduction for lower flight altitudes and an increase for higher flight altitudes. For future scenarios involving a reduction or termination of emissions, radiative forcing of short-lived species decreases immediately, that of longer lived species decreases gradually, and respective temperature responses start to decay slowly. After disappearance of the shorter lived effects, only the counteracting CO2 effect remains, resulting in an increased climate effect for lower flight altitudes and a decrease for higher flight altitudes. Incorporating knowledge about the altitude sensitivity of aviation climate impact in the route planning process offers substantial mitigation potential. Scenarios and time horizons for the evaluation of future effects of mitigation instruments must be chosen carefully depending on the mitigation aim.

How much information is lost by using global-mean climate metrics? an example using the transport sector

Metrics are often used to compare the climate impacts of emissions from various sources, sectors or nations. These are usually based on global-mean input, and so there is the potential that important information on smaller scales is lost. Assuming a non-linear dependence of the climate impact on local surface temperature change, we explore the loss of information about regional variability that results from using global-mean input in the specific case of heterogeneous changes in ozone, methane and aerosol concentrations resulting from emissions from road traffic, aviation and shipping. Results from equilibrium simulations with two general circulation models are used. An alternative metric for capturing the regional climate impacts is investigated. We find that the application of a metric that is first calculated locally and then averaged globally captures a more complete and informative signal of climate impact than one that uses global-mean input. The loss of information when heterogeneity is ignored is largest in the case of aviation. Further investigation of the spatial distribution of temperature change indicates that although the pattern of temperature response does not closely match the pattern of the forcing, the forcing pattern still influences the response pattern on a hemispheric scale. When the short-lived transport forcing is superimposed on present-day anthropogenic CO2 forcing, the heterogeneity in the temperature response to CO2 dominates. This suggests that the importance of including regional climate impacts in global metrics depends on whether small sectors are considered in isolation or as part of the overall climate change.

Contrails, Natural Clouds, and Diurnal Temperature Range

Abstract The direct impact of aircraft condensation trails (contrails) on surface temperature in regions of high aircraft density has been a matter of recent debate in climate research. Based on data analysis for the 3-day aviation grounding period over the United States, following the terrorists’ attack of 11 September 2001, a strong effect of contrails reducing the surface diurnal temperature range (DTR) has been suggested. Simulations with the global climate model ECHAM4 (including a contrail parameterization) and long-term time series of observation-based data are used for an independent cross check with longer data records, which allow statistically more reliable conclusions. The climate model underestimates the overall magnitude of the DTR compared to 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40) data and station data, but it captures most features of the DTR global distribution and the correlation between DTR and either cloud amount or cloud forcing. The diurnal cycle of contrail radiative impact is also qualit...